1 he Seguin Physiological School 

For the Training of Children of 

Arrested Mental Development 



370 Centre St., Orange, N. J. 



Education is the rig-ht of every child, 
the doty of every parent, the bond of 
the community. — SEGUIN. 






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The 
Seguin Physiological School 

For the Training of 

Children of 
Arrested Mental Development 

Telephone 277 Orange 



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THE SEGUIN PHYSIOLOGICAL SCHOOL. 



Principal 

MRS. ELSIE M. SEGUIN 

Assistant Principal 

MISS FANNY KING 



Visiting Physician and Surgeon 
MEFFORD RUNYON, M.D., South Orange, N. J. 



Dentist 

R. S. WATSON, D.D.S., Orange, N. J. 



CONSULTING PHYSICIANS 

Neurologists 

Frederick Peterson, M.D., New York City 

M. Allen Starr, M.D., 

B. Sachs, M.D., 

Charles L. Dana, M. D., 

Nathan Oppenheim, M.D., 

George W. Jacoby, M. D., 



Orthopedist 

E. H. Arnold, M. D., New Haven, Conn. 
Director New Haven Normal School of Gymnastics 



Opthalmologists 

CoLMAN W. Cutler, M. D., New York City 
James R. Shannon, M. D., 



Aurist 

James F. McKernon, M.D., New York City 

GIFT ^~ ^ 
MRS. WOOD ROW WILSOV 
NOV. 25, 1939 



The Seguin School. 




ORANGE, N. J. 



HIS SCHOOL is situated in an elevated section of 
the city, about a mile from the railroad station, 
and in one of the most attractive of the residence 
portions of Orange. The grounds comprise near- 
ly four acres, the house standing at an elevation of two hun- 
dred fifty feet above sea level. 

To the east and south stretches a beautiful park of forty- 
seven acres, separated from the grounds of the school by a 
hedge, while to the west the outlook is upon some of the 
finest lawns in Essex County. 

The climate of this section of country is justly renowned 
for its mildness and salubrity, and many persons unable to 
stand the strong salt air of New York and Brooklyn have be- 
come satisfied residents of Orange, the advantages gained in 
this short distance being remarkable, especially in cases in- 
volving catarrhal and throat troubles. Here we have the 
pure air and quiet of the country, great shade trees under 
which the children may sit or play, and broad stretches of 
grassy lawns with facilities for all out-door games. 

The surrounding country, with its varied surface of moun- 
tain and valley, not only affords pleasing views but is of 
great value in promoting the physical well-being of children 
whose constitutional peculiarities make them especially de- 
pendent on stimulating climatic environment. 



The nearness of New York with its many pleasures and 
attractions is one of the most important advantages of the 
school. The work of teaching these unfortunate little ones is 
peculiarly exhausting, and in order to avoid the danger of laps- 
ing into that listlessness and perfunctory performance of duty 
which is fatal to improvement in the child, the teachers must be 
within reach of recreations such as only large cities can afford. 
Visits to a metropolis where mental stimulus is inevitable, bring 
them back from their weekly holiday refreshed and invigorat- 
ed and therefore capable of sustained enthusiasm. 

Orange, forty minutes' ride from New York, is on the line 
of the D. L. & W. Railroad, with stations at Christopher and 
Barclay Street ferries. There are more than forty trains daily 
each way. Cabs await every train. 

The Main Building, containing twenty-five rooms, was sub- 
stantially built at considerable expense for a private family. 
Attached to this building by a covered hall- way twenty-five feet 
in length, is the Gymnasium, completed in January, 1896. The 
entire building, together with the hall- way, is heated by steam 
and lighted by electricity. A cellar protects from dampness. 

Iron fire-escapes with platforms and railings insure safety 
in case of fire. Small fire-extinguishers are kept in conspicuous 
places. Only safety matches are used, and the pupils are never 
allowed these. 

Since the school was moved to Orange in the spring of 1894, 
we have had nothing more serious to isolate than a few cases of 
measles and chicken-pox. In spite of this singular immunity 
from contagious diseases, provision has been made for such a 
contingency. A cottage two hundred twenty-five feet from the 
Main Building is kept ready for occupancy should there arise 
any need of isolation. 

The Gardener's Cottage, separated from the Main Building 
by a distance- of about two hundred feet, is occupied by the serv- 
ants, eleven in number. 

Bed-Rooms. — The second floor of the Gymnasium and the 
second and third floors of the Main Building are used for sleep- 
ing rooms. The children in every case occupy rooms connect- 
ing with that of a teacher or a governess, that they may never 
be without careful supervision, and that the dressing and un- 
dressing may be directed by a responsible person. Each child 



has a separate bed, wash-stand, and chiffonier. Stiflficient 
blankets are supplied to permit of an abundance of fresh air — 
so essential to perfect health. 

Bath and Toilet Rooms. — A daily bath is a recognized part of 
the routine, and where the tonic effect of a cold spray is found 
beneficial, the facilities provided are such as to insure careful 
attention to this important adjunct to physical and therefore 
mental improvement. Last year 84 per cent, of our pupils were 
g-iven a cold spray every morning in addition to the tub or 
sponge bath at night. 

Toilet rooms with exposed plumbing are on each floor of the 
buildings, giving ample accommodation to the pupils of various 
ages. Governesses supervise these rooms, as the care of the 
children here is recognized as a matter of grave importance. 



Circular written by Dr. Seguin the last month of his life. 

Physiological School for Weak-Minded and 
Weak-Bodied Children. 



As education spreads in the masses it also descends lower in the strata 
formerly devoted to ignorance and inferiority. From the child who is be- 
lated in his speech, or whose perceptions are obtuse, conceptions slow, activity 
sluggish or unruly, and actions ineffective, to those whose natural brightness 
is their true teacher the distance is small at first, but becomes greater every 
day, for this reason: In children the growth of the incapacity is not due to 
an aggravation of its original cause, be it a disease, ill nutrition, ill-usage 
etc., but to a secondary one, namely, the want of a proper education, which is 
not to be found in the ordinary school, and which is the object of the physio- 
logical training. 

The Physiological School is intended to develop the functions by the ex- 
ercise of the organs, and to train the organs in view of improving their 
functions. 

This school is intended for three grades of children: 

1. The very youngest, whose primary defects need to be corrected as 
soon as they appear, to prevent aggravation by habit, and the accessory in- 
capacities entailed thereby. These children need to be seen and their moth- 
ers advised at regular intervals. 

2. The children who cannot be educated in ordinary schools must fol- 
low a regular course, often a long one, of training the functions of relation, 
and of elevating these functions to the rank of intellectual capacities. This 
is the physiological training proper, 

3. Those whose education has not brought any practical advantage 
may be trained in view of finding out and developing some individual apti- 
tude which will manifest itself during the course of this physiological train- 
ing. Thus {a) In the youngest children the retrograde effects of isolation 
are at once prevented by an early drill of their activity. {b) In children of 
age to go to school the functions of relation are regulated and intellectual- 
ized. {c) In the older ones the prevalent though often hidden aptitude is 
studied and trained in order to prepare a redeeming capacity, ever so small, 
for some useful occupation. 

This application of physiology to education was the work of my youth, 
and has been the main object of my thought for forty-two years. I give it 
my last years, with the assistance of my wife, meaning to leave her the 
young and clear-headed exponent of the method I have scattered, but not ex- 
hausted, in many books, pamphlets, and living lessons. 

Edouard Seguin, M.D. 
, 5S West 57th Street, New York. 
October, 1880. 



A careful reading of this circular will make it clear that 
Dr. Seguin did not intend to limit the school to the very lowest 
cases, but to open therein a way for the development of all 
children who are in any way mentally abnormal. The normal 
child is a well-balanced being. It is an indication of abnormal 
conditions when a child is exceptionally precocious in one facul- 
ty and exceptionally lacking in another, as for example: preco- 
cious in talking and memorizing but entirely devoid of reasoning 
power, judgment, or discrimination; of vivid imagination but 
lacking in inference, etc., etc. To all such the advantages of 
special scientific training are of incalculable importance. 

In presenting to the public my claims to be considered a 
scientific teacher in a department but little known to the gener- 
al public, it seems fitting that I should include in this account 
of the Seguin Physiological School a brief statement of how 
I became associated wath it, and why I have continued to work 
for the advancement of that branch of science conceded to owe 
its creation to the genius of my late husband. 

In May, 1878, I resigned my position in the second oldest 
Academy in New York state, where I had taught acceptably for 
four years, to study under Dr. Seguin. He gave me the oppor- 
tunity of training, under his close direction, one of his patients, 
a mentally-deficient child of seven years. We were the closest 
companions, this boy and I, for nearly twenty months, when he, 
with a girl of eight years, formed the nucleus of the present 
school. This was in January, 1880. Four months later I be- 
came Dr. Seguin's wife, but before the close of the year he re- 
alized that his useful life was drawing to its close. The eager 
enthusiasm which for forty-two years had kept him loyal to the 
cause he had made his own did not desert him. He had spared 
no pains in instructing me and was content with the result of his 
training. He bequeathed to me as a most sacred legacy the 
care of the children whose darkened intellects had already be- 
gun to catch some dim reflection of his own brilliant mind, illu- 
mined as it was by a love which glorified his every thought in 
connection with them. 

I pledged myself to take up the burden which he laid down 
only with his life, and have faithfully endeavored to fulfill that 
promise through the years that have come and gone. At the 
time of Dr. Seguin's death the school, numbering three children, 



was for day pupils only, and so continued till 1883, when I leased 
a small house, that two of my six day pupils might be enrolled 
as boarding pupils. 

Three times since then the school has outgrown the accom- 
modations furnished. It is now established where ample pro- 
vision can be made for as many children as I shall be willing 
to receive at one time, the individual instruction absolutely nec- 
essary for the best interest of the children prohibiting my ac- 
ceptance of an unlimited number of pupils. 

The following article was published in the Independent of 
Oct. i8th, 1888. It was written by a physician who had been 
intimately associated with Dr. Seguin for years, and who was 
himself deeply interested in the same work. I hope it will 
prove of value to those who may care to learn more of a school 
which has no counterpart in the world. 

Elsie M. Seguin. 

The Education of Feeble-Minded Children. 

It is fifty-one years the present year [1888] since Edouard Seguin, a 
young French physician, decided to step aside from the brilliant career 
which had opened before him and devote himself for life to the attempt to 
rescue from degradation and misery the lowest, most forlorn, and abject of 
God's creatures. Descended from a long line of eminent physicians in 
Burgundy, and himself the most gifted of his line, he was possessed of such 
analytical power and such patience of research that he had become a great 
favorite of the venerable Itard and of Esquirol, then the most eminent 
psychologists of France. 

He had been entrusted two or three years before with a very delicate 
investigation into the mental status and possibilities of cure of some idiotic 
children at the Bicetre, and was still engaged in these investigations. 

He was an eloquent writer, one whose contributions to the best literature 
of the day, both in poetry and prose, attracted great attention. He was 
also a brilliant conversationalist, and one of that coterie of young philosophers. 
all of whom afterward attained distinction— Ledru RoUin, Pierre Leroux, 
Louis Blanc, Michel Chevalier, the elder Flourens, the brothers Pereire, 
Jean Reynaud, and Victor Hugo. Among them all none was more brilliant 
or more beloved than Edouard Seguin. 

The young brotherhood had all embraced the philanthropic views of 
St. Simon, and were zealous for the elevation and advancement of humanity ; 
but to none of them had the cry of the suffering and utterly helpless come 
with such overpowering intensity as to the young physician who had already 
been for two years endeavoring, with Esquirol's aid, to rend the veil which 
had hidden the mental perceptions of the idiot children of the Hospice de 
Bicetre from the eyes of the philosophers of the time. At length, in 1839, 



there appeared a modest pamphlet entitled ''Resume of What We Have 
Done Durmg Foicrteen Months Past — Esquirol and Seguin." In simple lan- 
guage it told of the success which had attended their efforts to illumine these 
darkened intellects. 

The year before, Dr. Seguin had definitely determined that he had 
found his mission. From this time he went on alone, patiently treading 
and retreading his beaten paths, trying a thousand experiments to awaken 
these slumbering, lethargic intellects, and formulating from observation 
and induction his theories of the causes and possible cure of idiocy. After 
six years of self-denying labor, conducted wholly at his own expense, he 
ventured to ask the Academy of Sciences to appoint a commission, to exam- 
ine and report upon his methods and work. This commission, consisting of 
Messieurs Serres, Flourens, and Pariset some of its most eminent members, 
examined, critically and thoroughly, his method of training and educating 
idiotic children, and reported to the Academy, giving it the highest com- 
mendation, and declaring that up to the time when he commenced his la- 
bors (1837) idiots could not be educated by any means previously known or 
practiced, but that he had solved the problem. 

The report called attention to his school, which was henceforward al- 
most constantly visited by teachers and philanthropists of his own and other 
nations, and as his methods were thus made known, schools for the feeble- 
minded were soon established in England and several countries of the Con- 
tinent. Two years later (in 1846) he prepared and published his great 
''Traitement Moral, Hygiene et Education des Idiots, et des Autres Enfatits 
Arriires,'" which was crowned by the Academy and had a wide circula- 
tion. The work is a masterpiece. All its methods, instructions, and rules 
are perfectly defined. It has been for forty-two years the text book for all 
institutions for the instruction of the feeble-minded in Europe, Asia, and 
America. There have been some additions of processes, but none of prin- 
ciples. 

These principles may be briefiy stated as follows: Idiocy is not the result 
of deficiency or malformation of the brain or nervous system, nor, in gen- 
eral, is it accompanied by any serious deformity of the body ; these ideas 
formerly, and to some extent yet, very generally entertained, have no 
foundation in fact ; but idiocy is simply an arrest of mental development, 
occuring either before, at, or after birth, induced in a variety of ways, 
and by different causes; where there is an accompaniment of physical de- 
formity or defect, as deaf mutism, blindness, insanity, or epilepsy, etc., etc., 
the training is more difficult 

There are now in Europe, Asia, the United States, and Canada more 
than fifty of these institutions, all of them owing their existence, di- 
rectly or indirectly, to his personal effort, or the instructions laid down 
in his books, the ''Treatise" already mentioned, and "Idiocy, and Its 
Treatment by the Physiological Method," which supplemented the former 
in 1866. Since 1850 he resided in the United States, though with occasional 
visits to Europe, and while at times practicing his profession, his heart was 
always with these afflicted children, and his efforts on their behalf were in- 
cessant. 



He differed from Haiiy, de I'Epee, and Sicard. the founders of blind 
and deaf mute instruction, not only in his more profound attainments in 
psychology but in the fact that while they received remuneration for their 
labors, to which they were justly entitled, his were always rendered gratui- 
tously, and in many instances his scanty means were expended in feeding 
as well as teaching his helpless pupils. 

He kept himself constantly informed in regard to the progress of the 
institutions for the training of the feeble-minded, watching over them with 
the greatest of care, and suggesting, either in his public addresses or his 
pamphlets, new processes, and discussing physiological and psychological 
questions . 

He visited these institutions, examined carefully all their processes, saw 
much to praise, but somewhat also to grieve over, and returned home con- 
vinced that the highest success was only attained by individual instruction 
and training, accompanied by the association of a few pupils with each 
other. He had suspected this from the date of his earliest efforts to instruct 
these poor children. The power of giving continued attention for a long 
time is so weak and the mental grasp so slight that class instruction, even 
in matters wholly mechanical, failed to interest or improve them. 

"Why do you make that child try the same motions a hundred times a 
day?" asked the writer of the Doctor one day. "Because she does not 
make them right in ninety-nine times trying," was the gentle but character- 
istic answer. This constant repetition in a large class is impossible, and if 
it were possible would not produce the desired result. Some of the pupils 
would not work. In individtial instruction there is more of the personality 
of the teacher infused into the child; its ambition is roused feebly at 
first, perhaps, but in a larger degree after a time. But the teacher must 
be one of a thousand, perfect in courage, in tact, in patience, in persever- 
ance. The great expense is also a serious objection, as is the length of time 
necessary to obtain the greatest possible benefit. 



13 



General Principles. 



We are born weak, we have need of strength: we are 
born destitute of everything, we have need of assistance ; 

we are born stupid, we have need of judgment 

All that we have not at our birth, but which we need 
when we are grown, is given us by education. 

— Rousseau. 



While each child presents a separate problem to the teach- 
er, and for each one special methods are necessary, yet a few 
cardinal principles underlie every case. The skill which comes 
through scientific training ; the patience, born of a knowledge 
wide and deep; the tact which always moves along the line of 
least resistance, accomplishing mighty feats by gentle suasion; — 
all these must animate the successful teacher, but in this diffi- 
cult department of pedagogy, none of these qualities, nor all, 
will avail unless there be a deep and abiding love as the motive 
power of every effort, encouraging to ever fresh enthusiasm. 
Inspired by this, no work is menial, no waiting long, no dark- 
ened brain is more than asleep. The courage and power to 
bring the light can be found only in the teacher whose soul is 
illumined by this love— truly, "The Greatest Thing in the World. " 

A thorough understanding of the child's physical condition 
is recognized as a necessity. Each child on entering the school 
is examined by an orthopedist. Other specialists are also con- 
sulted to make examinations when indications point to any dis- 
eased or abnormal conditions, and all diagnoses are preserved 
with the history of the case. Speaking of the importance of 
careful diagnosis, Dr. Oppenheim, in his treatise on "The Devel- 
opment of the Child," says: "If a child's nose or throat is in such 
a condition that full respiration is not possible, then oxidation 
is impaired ; tissue change is unnaturally limited, and conse- 
quently mental action and development are not normal 

A sufferer from the air starvation which results from hypertro- 
phied tonsils, from adenoid fungations, or one who has the ob- 
stacles of nervous irritation to overcome, cannot be fit material 
to go through the processes of healthful tissue change. " 

Teachers are required to write reports of their work in 
each individual case at the end of each year, and thus a scien- 

14 



tifically accurate record of the physical and mental growth of 
each child is always ready for reference. 

Individual instruction is essential as each pupil presents 
many separate and distinct difficulties to be overcome ; at the 
same time there are exercises in which association with those 
similarly afflicted rouses the spirit of emulation, stimulates and 
fixes the attention, and adds a zest to the otherwise tiresome 
task, without which real advancement is always difficult and oft- 
en impossible. 

The judicious admixture of these apparently diverse meth- 
ods, while requiring the utmost wisdom in their adjustment, has 
proved to be the only practical way to solve che problem of 
awakening and developing the dormant intelligence, and in 
these kinder and wiser days has well-nigh eliminated the harsh 
and dreadful word idiocy and substituted the hopeful and also 
more truthful terms, arrested mental development, and the like. 

Private home training is prejudicial to the child's best inter- 
ests because the repetition of the same things by the same 
teacher, in the same room, day after day, and month after 
month, becomes monotonous and is not only equally tiresome to 
the child and teacher, but also fails by reason of this fact to ac- 
complish the desired result. 

In the Seguin School a pupil does not usually remain with 
one teacher longer than twenty successive minutes. He then 
goes to another teacher and has a complete change of occupation. 

An explanation of the physiological method originated by 
Dr. Seguin, and a brief account of how his theories are daily 
put in practice in the school, will be of interest to patrons of 
the school and to parents who may desire to become such. 

Dr. Seguin taught that the way to the brain, the inner seat 
of sensation, the throne of reason and judgment, lies through 
the members of the body to which we have easy access: the hand, 
the eye, the ear. He would train these organs and so develop 
the intellectual faculty which should command them. 

In his famous "Treatise on the Physiological Method," which 
has long been the recognized authority in this department of ed- 
ucation, he says: 

"The hand is to be trained for years in these abilities, not so much 
with extraordinary apparatus as with things ordinarily used in daily life. 
This training transforms in due season part of formal prehension into easy 
handling. As this extension of ability of the hand comes little by little, 

15 



its importance may be overlooked, and even its acquisition neglected; but 
this neglect would cost, after a little while an immense range of capacity; 
let us see. 

We prehend everything in about the same manner, but we certainly 
handle everything in a special manner: a glass, an axe, a pen, a spade, etc. ; 
prehension is more physical; handling, more intellectual. Prehending 
done passively, has only one object, obedience; or, done actively, is for the 
direct use of the child; but handling is, we may say, always a willed action 
having reference to things, to persons, to feelings, and to combinations of 
these innumerables. 

As soon as the child begins to prehend and to handle he must be made 
to work. ............. 

The hand is the best servant of man, the best instrument of work; 
the best translator of thoughts; the most skillful is yet, in respect to cer- 
tain realizations, as it were, idiotic: our own hand shrivels before we sus- 
pect the thousand ideas it might realize." 

Even more important in point of progress is the training of 
the eye. and as the habit is created in the child of looking upon 
the hand of his teacher and then upon his own, the first great 
step in physiological education is taken. The mutual assistance 
of the eye, trained to fix its attention upon the hand, and of the 
hand, compelling the attention of the eye, results in a mental 
development logically the sequence of physiological training. 



The School Work. 

The real education consists less in precepts than in practice. 

— Rotisseau. 

We must teach every day the nearest thing to that which each 
child knows or can know. — Segtmi. 

The school is limited to twenty-five pupils. Eleven ex- 
perienced teachers are employed ; ten class-rooms are used. 

The school hours are from 9 a. m. to 12 m. and from i to 3 
p. M. The morning session opens with singing and closes with 
calisthenic drills. The afternoon session closes with dancing: 
Lanciers, Minuet, Virginia Reel, Polka, Two-step, Caprice, and 
Waltz. 

Children under ten years of age lie down for an hour in the 
middle of the day, and their school hours are regulated by the 
needs of each individual case. 

16 




'7 



Motor and Sensory Training.— The little children are taught to 
play bean-bag; to roll balls; to place nine-pins in frames; to 
separate and string colored cubes, balls, and cylinders, and 
button-molds of various forms and sizes. They learn to build 
with blocks; to use the rivet-board; to pick up glass beads, 
coins, and colored sticks; to cut strips of heavy manila paper, 
and to fit geometrical figures into hollow forms of correspond- 
ing shape. They have lessons in buttoning and unbuttoning; 
lacing and unlacing ; tying and untying. These and other ex- 
ercises, including personal and objective imitation ; the training 
of the senses of smell, taste, and hearing; the obeying of 
commands, etc., quicken the perceptive faculties and shorten 
reaction time. The illustration these lessons afford of the 
benefit of the physiological method is as clear as it is convincing. 

The Kindergartners use only enlarged material: peg-boards, 
sewing cards, folding, cutting, and pasting papers, etc. 

The Articulation Teacher gives to every child with defective 
speech two twenty-minute individual lessons daily. More than 
this is too great a strain upon the child, and often this amount 
of instruction must be reached by carefully graded periods in- 
creased as the child is able to bear the concentration of mind 
required. In this school many children who on entering spoke 
with great difficulty — if at all — have been taught to read print 
and script well. 

Language Lessons are made interesting by the use of objects, 
objective charts, large pictures, and drawings on the blackboard. 
Reading is taught by the phonetic and word methods, and English, 
Spelling, and Penmanship are not neglected. Pupils are taught to 
write first on the blackboard, then on manila paper with coarse 
pencil, and finally in a copy book with ink. 

Instruction in Geography, History, and Current Events is given 
by the use of globes, charts, maps, and pictures. 

Physiology. — The children have simple practical lessons on the 
care of the eyes, teeth, skin, nails, etc. ; on digestion, circulation, 
and respiration. 

Nature Study is of interest and value to pupils of all ages. 
Many varieties of birds may be seen on the school grounds dur- 
ing the spring. To watch them and to learn their habits is a 
source of keen delight to the children, many of whom have their 
own field glasses. 

i8 



Ten boys and girls have little gardens where, under super- 
vision, they cultivate flowers and vegetables. The school is so 
located as to make the study of trees, flowers, insects, etc., 
attractive to the children, and they are encouraged in habits 
of observation, and stimulated to enquire into the simpler laws of 
nature, leading in the case of the more advanced pupils to sys- 
tematic lessons in Familiar Science, 

Number is taught to such children as can get any intellect- 
ual grasp of the subject, the lessons being limited to a twenty- 
minute period daily. In the number room are found large slate 
blackboards ; small articles to be bought and sold, genuine money 
being used for payment and the making of change ; calendars, 
dials, playing cards, dominoes, colored beads, and whatever 
will add to the interest of the child and make his work more 
practical. 

Number lessons are not given to our pupils until they have 
had considerable training along other lines. Dr. Oppenheim, 
who has made a scientific study of children, writes in regard 
to number for the normal child : 

"Now the clear appreciation and use of matiiematics — the relations of 
numbers — are unquestionably so abstract as plainly to be outside of the 

scope of the elementary school-child It is true that young 

children can learn numbers by rote just as well as they can learn any other 
arrangements of sounds ; but in doing so, they derive no benefit from the 
process, and, on the other hand, receive harm. One must keep in mind 
that the faculty which governs mathematical computation is located among 
the higher centres in the cerebrum; that this part of the brain is among 
the latest to attain maturity; that therefore in children it is in no condition 
to be put to a strain. Whenever a scholar at this age is forced into at- 
tempts to use this faculty, a process similar to any other sort of exhaustive 

work results Thus such children receive no permanent value 

from studies in mathematics, simple though they be; and what is more, if 
these studies were not begun until greater maturity — say at least ten years 
of age — not only would a vast amount of nervous wear and tear be saved, 
but also the children would learn as much in one year as they formerly learnt 
in five. The time thus saved might be profitably employed in strengthen- 
ing both mind and body." — Froju ''The Development of the Child.'" 



T9 



Manual Training. 



This includes many departments : 

Wood-Work. — All of the boys and a number of the girls learn 
to use tools. When some skill has been acquired, the}^ make 
boxes, benches, paper racks, frames, circular bread-boards, etc. 
This work is of great value in developing mviscular control and 
strengthening the power of attention. 

Clay Modeling has an educational value which should not be 
overlooked. All children like constructive work, and our pu- 
pils learn to do exceptionally good modeling. Children with 
stiff weak fingers learn to combine the strength needed for wedg- 
ing the clay firml}^ with the delicacy of touch necessary for 
shaping and leveling surfaces. The thumb is apt to be espe- 
cially weak, and these exercises force it into actioiT and strength- 
en it. The objects selected for imitation are such as readily 
appeal to the children: birds' nests, baskets, mallets, vegetables, 
fruit — finally vase forms. Several of the pupils have success- 
fully inodeled vase forms from memory, while others have done 
some good original work. 

Free Brush-Work. — Little children are given this work before 
drawing, even on the blackboard, is attempted, because of the 
greater freedom enjoyed. Fascinated by the rich colors as well 
as by the attractive objects from Nature given them to be repro- 
duced, children need no encouragement to do their best, and 
their attention is held without mental effort. 

Free-Arm Blackboard Drawing. — In addition to increasing mus- 
cle-control, drawing is a factor in developing powers of observa- 
tion, memory, and imagination, and in creating a sense of size 
and proportion. Some time is always given to memory pictures 
of life forms and of familiar objects: a tree, a flower, a fan, a 
boat, a cup, a horse, etc. Several pupils have learned to draw 
decorative designs from Greek and Roman historic ornament, 
and are able to combiiae motifs into designs for specific purpos- 
es: sofa pillow, wall paper, frieze, iron fence, etc. 

Chair-Caning is taught to the older pupils. 

The Todd Loom is used by the little children. 



Basketry. — Baskets of rattan and raphia of all sizes and shapes, 
from large scrap baskets to dainty work baskets, are made by 
the children. Serviceable hats of raphia are made by the 
older girls. 

Domestic Science. — A number of the girls learn to make beds, 
dust, wash dishes, prepare vegetables, and do plain cooking and 
baking. 

In the Sewing Room the girls are taught to knit and crochet 
wash-cloths, shawls, mittens, slippers, etc. ; to outline, embroid- 
er, and do plain sewing. This work is made extremely simple 
for beginners. The more advanced girls are taught to patch, 
darn, sew on buttons, and make button-holes; to use the ma- 
chine, and to cut out and make some of their own clothing. 

Vocal and Instrumental Music. — The love of music is, with all 
our pupils, a marked characteristic. The music teacher in- 
structs daily such children as show any musical ability. This 
work is necessarily individual. Those sufficiently advanced 
have a short unsupervised practice period daily. 

The Gymnasium. — "Our main object the intellectualization of 
the muscles." — Seguin. 

The Gymnasium is in charge of two experienced teachers ; 
one, giving her attention especially to Medical or Corrective work, 
the other, to Educational Gymnastics. Complete measurements 
and the weight are taken and recorded three times a year. The 
following record shows the physical improvement of one of our 
pupils during her first year in the school. 



Age 14 yrs., ii mos. 

Dates of Measurements Sept. 23. Feb. 3. June 8. 

Weight lbs. 82^ 91I gsf 

Height — Standing in. 60.1 61. i 62.4 

Height— Sitting " 3if 32 33^ 

Head Measurements 

Circ itmfe ren ce — 
Taken above ears and over 

occipital tuberosity Mm. 515 520 

Transverse — 
Tape measure from ear to 

ear over vertex " 285 2qo 

Calliper measure from ear 

to ear over vertex " 119 120 



lp^_ 



Head Measurements — continued 

Longitudinal — 

Tape measure from nasal 
notch to occipital tuber- 
osity " 

Calliper measure from nasal 
notch to occipital tuber- 
osity " 

Girth 

Neck Mm 

Chest — in repose 

Chest— full 

Chest — empty 

Ninth Rib — in repose 

Ninth Rib— full 

Waist 

Hips 

Thigh Mm 

Knee 

Calf 

Ankle 

Instep 

Upper Arm 

Upper Arm — flexed 

Fore Arm 

Wrist 

Hand 

Strength of hand lbs. 

Length 

Leg — Ant. sup. spine to inter, 
malleolus Mm. 

Capacity 
Lungs cu. in. 

Breadth 

Neck Mm. 

Shoulders " 

Chest " 

Waist " 

Hips " 

Depth 

Chest Mm. 

Abdomen " 



Sept. 23. Feb. 3. June 8. /f ^^r~ 



295 



170 



780 780 



84 
302 
208 

193 

277 

162 
146 



300 



172 



285 




305 




310 




670 




715 




720 




705 




750 




755 




660 




690 




675 




610 




625 




630 




635 




670 




680 




580 




605 




585 




800 




830 




835 




Rt. 


Lft. 


Rt. 


Lft. 


Rt. 


Ltt. 


415 


^20 


470 


475 


470 


475 


290 


300 


305 


315 


320 


330 


260 


270 


280 


285 


285 


295 


175 


1 80 


175 


180 


185 


190 


195 


200 


195 


200 


^95 


200 


165 


165 


185 


180 


195 


190 


180 


180 


200 


200 


215 


215 


180 


180 


195 


200 


195 


198 


135 


135 


140 


140 


138 


138 


155 


155 


160 


160 


160 


160 


45 


40 


47 


45 


47 


45 



800 


805 805 


140 


160 


90 


97 


314 


315 


217 


220 


197 


195 


294 


295 


162 


166 


157 


147 



23 



Our Aim is to encourage habits of honesty and truthfulness, 
courtesy and unselfishness, neatness and order, cheerful obedi- 
ence and patient industry. We strive to make our pupils in 
every way more useful and self-reliant, approaching the normal 
type. We realize that but few of the children confided to our 
care, will ever reach a position of absolute independence. They 
should always lead quiet lives, shielded from contact with the 
outside world. Dr. Walter E. Fernald in his paper on ' 'Mentally- 
Defective Children in the Public Schools," says: 

"The feeble-minded are powerless to resist the physical temptations of 
adult life, and should be protected from their own. weakness. ... 
Of the great majority of these trained cases it has well been said that they 
may become 'self-supporting but not self-controlling.'" 



Play-Time. 



We must not forget to create gayety and mirth sever- 
al times a day ; happiness is oar object as much, nay more 
than progress, and children will not be sick if they 
laugh. — Segnin. 

The results secured by the physiological method as taught 
by Dr. Seguin owe no small part of their success to the intelli- 
gent use of the hours devoted to recreation. These children, 
whose dormant faculties can be roused only by specially de- 
signed methods of instruction, do not turn from lessons to pla}^ 
as normal children do. If left to find amusement for themselves, 
their pleasures would be few, and a great brightness would fade 
out of their lives. They need to be stimulated to healthy enjov- 
ment of the games and pastimes which all normal children love. 

It is of the utmost importance therefore that their play-time 
be under the supervision of persons who come to them fresh and 
untired by the strain of teaching. During play-time as well as in 
school hours, tact, patience, skill, and gentle and refined manners 
are essential qualifications for those entrusted with the well-being 
of these children. Five governesses, who have no school duties, 
devote themselves to the care of our pupils out cf school hours. 
One of these is a trained nurse and all have had musical traininof. 



24 




25 



The children are grouped according to their ability to enjoy 
similar recreations. Sand-boxes furnish never-ending delight lo 
the little diggers with their tiny shovels and pails ; express wag- 
ons, wheelbarrows, horse reins, and the like, provide amusement 
for the larger boys. Little mothers trundling their dolls in 
carriages are happy in their cares and learn unconsciously valu- 
able lessons of steadiness of motion, and of strength and skill in 
using their hands as they minister to their tiny charges. 

Croquet, tennis, tether-ball, and basket-ball are provided for 
the older ones, but none of these compare in the children's estima- 
tion with the little cart and the two Indian ponies which are the 
property of each child in turn to drive through the beautiful 
country with a governess, who is recognized only as a larger and 
more charming play-fellow. 

The walks, trolley-rides, and occasional visits to the city are 
always carefully planned and greatly enjoyed. Each season 
brings its own pleasures. In the autumn many hours are happi- 
ly spent raking the leaves from the lawn, while in the spring- 
time, the gardens, besides giving the children the pride of own- 
ership, afford them daily pleasure in watching the result of 
their faithful care. 

All delight in the merry-making which comes with the snow. 
Sleds are made ready long in advance of the need for them, and 
when the feathery flakes come softly down, the joy of the child- 
ren knows no bounds. 

Open air sports are always given the preference, and when 
dampness makes the ground unsafe for the children, the broad 
verandas furnish an excellent substitute for the lawn. 

When the weather or the hour makes in doors necessary, the 
care taken to provide amusements is not less than that bestowed 
on the tasks of the school-room. Scrap-books have proved a 
source of much pleasure and profit. Cosmos prints used in con- 
nection with type-written poems have familiarized the children 
with some of our choicest bits of literature as well as with some of 
the masterpieces of art. Reading aloud is a favorite pastime, and 
the books are selected with great care, nature stories being given 
special prominence. A few responsible children are permitted 
to read in their own rooms for half an hour before supper, choos- 
ing their books from the school library. 



26 




27 



The younger children, when in doors during play-time, oc- 
cupy three rooms lest the noise and confusion resulting from 
many being together, disturb or unduly excite any children 
especially nervous. They blow soap-bubbles, spin humming 
tops, cut out pictures and color them, look at picture books, 
listen to Mother Goose rhymes, play with the toys sent them 
from home, and in all their games receive gentle suggestion and 
stimulus from the governess in charge. 

Birthdays are celebrated with much eclat, and Tea-part- 
ies furnish excellent opportunities for the display of courteous 
manners and for the development of a sense of responsibility on 
the part of the host or hostess. 

One evening each week is devoted to vocal and instrumen- 
tal music, under the direction of the music teacher, and three 
times during the winter concerts are given when outside talent 
is engaged. A magic lantern and a graphophone furnish en- 
tertainment many evenings. 

It would be hard to find a happier group of children than the 
pupils of this school, and it would be strange indeed if this 
were not so, for the care that is given their tasks in school 
begins with the day and is never relaxed through all the happy 
play hours — nor until the children sink into the quiet sleep se- 
cured, even for the nervous ones, by the busy routine of work 
and play. 

Saturdays and Sundays.— Whenever the weather permits, the 
children spend the greater part of Saturday and Sunday out of 
doors. The receipt of a letter from home is counted by each- 
child as one of the great events of the week, and so we count 
among the pleasures rather than the duties, the letter written 
by the child every Saturday morning. Many of our pupils write 
good letters independently; others dictate or write under super- 
vision. 

Twelve of our children attend church regularly, some going 
in the morning, others in the afternoon. They attract no more 
attention than any group of well-behaved children. Sunday 

morning a half hour is given to Bible stories and an ethical 
"talk," and in the evening the whole school assembles for the 
singing of hymns. 



28 




29 



Punishments. — It is quite impossible to ignore the necessity for 
punishment. Occasions arise when nothing else can correct a 
fault; various methods are then resorted to, differing because of 
the variety of offences and also because of the need for adapting 
the punishment to the capacity and need of each child. Corpo- 
ral punishment is never permitted. The deprivation of some es- 
pecial dainty or much prized privilege is generally sufficient. 
Children who do not profit by such disciplinary measures are not 
permitted to remain with us. 



The Table. 

Meals are regular. Breakfast at 7 :3o a. m. ; dinner at 12 m. ; 
a glass of milk and a graham cracker at 3 p. m. ; supper at 
6 p. M. The food is simple, carefully prepared, and nutritious : 
broiled steak, roast beef, lamb, mutton, and poultry, (minced 
fine for such children as have not learned to masticate thorough- 
ly) ; fish, vegetables, (many from our own garden), fresh eggs, 
many varieties of soups and cereals, an abundance of fruit both 
fresh and cooked, cream cheese, simple puddings, ice cream, 
plain cakes, cookies, and ginger-snaps; milk, cocoa, cereal coffee, 
corn-meal muffins, milk toast, bread two days old, (white, entire 
wheat, and graham), and a large supply of the best butter. 

Special diet is provided for any child requiring it, but the 
regular hours, quiet busy days, and pure country air make any 
more stringent rules than those laid down for all, very rare. 

The table is set with much care. Flowers from our own 
greenhouse, silver, glass, attractive china, etc., all add their 
refining influence. The presence of the teachers and governesses 
at every meal insures the good behavior of the children, and 
objectiona,ble table manners vanish in the atmosphere of culture 
and refinement by which they are surrounded. 

The drinking of an abundance of water (Boston filter used) 
is insisted upon. In addition to that taken at meals, each 
child drinks a glass of water on rising; between breakfast and 
dinner ; in the middle of the afternoon, and before going to bed. 



30 




31 



Visiting Days. 

The school is never open to the inspection of the idle or 
the curious, but parents, friends, or persons particularly inter- 
ested in the children are always welcome. The regular order of 
exercises is carried out every day without regard to visitors, and 
so an insight into the actual working of the school is always pos- 
sible to those v\^ho have any serious purpose in investigating. 

Summer Vacation. 

A change of air, food, and general surroundings is quite as 
necessary for our pupils as for any other class of children. The 
teachers also need entire rest during the summer that they may 
do efficient work through the school year. It is not always wise 
for our pupils to spend the entire vacation at home ; neither is it 
wise to wholly separate a child from the home circle, but while 
there great care should be exercised to maintain regular hours, 
to avoid imprudence in diet, and to prevent undue excitement. 

Holidays. 

Thanksgiving Day; a week at Christmas; Washington's 
Birthday; a week in the spring at Easter; Memorial Day. 



Any possible patron of the school will be furnished, if de- 
sired, with the addresses of present or former patrons who will 
gladly answer in detail an}^ questions anxious parents might 
like to ask. This offer to reply to questions comes unsolicited 
from patrons whose knowledge ot the school is most intimate 
and who realize that questions may arise in the mind of a parent 
which this circular does not answer, in spite of the efifort that 
has been made to give complete and detailed information. 

The following letter from a former patron is printed be- 
cause of its earnest appeal for the training of the mentally- 
deficient. 

"The marvellous development of the school since first I came to know 
it (now seven years) shows me that nothing earthly is perfect, for I had 
thought then that nothing more could be desired. Your own profound 
knowledge of the subject makes words of praise superfluous — you must know 
your own pre-eminence, and tribute from the ignorant is no special gratifi- 
cation, but I should like to speak, if I might, to the many mothers who need 



your school for their helpless children, and who fail to realize their need. 
One must have suffered as I have done to speak as 1 do from profound con- 
viction. Two classes of defective children need your training and are in 
danger because their parents fail to grasp the full truth. The first are those 
whose condition is so deplorable that the trouble and expense seem to the 
casual observer just so much time and money thrown away. To such 1 would 
say, nothing short of an actual experiment of a course of training can at all 
demonstrate the possibilities of your child, and the failure to give this may 
— nay, probably h'/// result in increased degeneracy — for nothing is so bad 
it may not be made worse, and evil habits grow with giant strides when 
neither reason nor judgment are in control. 

The other class is even more appealing — 1 refer to the children whose 
abnormality is but trifling. It seems easier and kinder to ignore it than to 
put upon the child the stigma of degeneracy. These are the unfortunates 
for whom my heart bleeds, for I have seen more than one such, just because 
the lack of balance is not great every effort should be put forth to secure 
it. Peradventure it may be overcome and a normal child develop to bless 
you for facing the truth and making for him a place in the world which a 
more cowardly sense would have left vacant. Even more likely, the timely 
intervention of specialized instruction may reveal the lines along which aloue 
the child may be rescued from that worst of all evils — moral degeneracy." 



Terms. 



Number of pupils limited to twenty-five. Girls under 
twenty and boys under fifteen years of age are admitted ; epilep- 
tic and insane children are excluded. 

The school year begins early in September and closes the 
third week in June. After the first year, except in cases of ill- 
ness, charge will be made for full school year regardless of late 
entrance. 

Board and Tuition, . . per annum, $1,200 

Day Pupils, . . . . " 500 

Bills payable quarterly in advance. 

Special arrangements may be made by parents desiring to 
have the training of their children continued during the summer. 



33 



Ref 



erences. 



E. C. Spitzka, M. D. 
M. Allen Starr, M. D. 
B. Sachs, M. D. . 
Frederick Peterson, M. D. 
Charles L. Dana, M. D. 
Allan McLane Hamilton, M. D. 
George W. Jacoby, M. D. 
J. Arthur Booth, M. D. 
A. E. Macdonald, M. D. 
Nathan Oppenheim, M. D. 
Abraham Jacobi, M. D. . 
L. Emmett Holt, M. D. 
Virgil P. Gibney, M. D. . 
Henry Ling Taylor, M. D. . 
Charles Jewett, M. D. . 



New York City 



Brooklyn 



A. C. Rogers, M. D. — Supt. Minn. School for the Feeble-Minded. 

E. R. Johnstone — Supt. N. J. Training School for Feeble-Minded Girls 
and Boys. 

Martin W. Barr, M.D. — Chief Physician, Pa. Training School for Feeble- 
Minded Children. 

James C. Carson, M.D., — Supt. N. Y. School for the Feeble-Minded. 

Walter E. Fernald, M. D ,— Supt. Mass. School for the Feeble-Minded. 

Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded. 



WALTER E. FERNALD, M. D., 

• Superintendent. 

Waverley, Aug. 3, 1904. 
My dear Mrs. Seguin: 

With great pleasure I add my name to your list 
of references. I alvvays feel the greatest confidence in referring people 
in trouble to you, and for them I am grateful for a school where every- 
thing is done in a way to satisfy the most critical and exacting. 

Truly yours, 
{Printed by permission.) Walter E. Fernald. 



34 



G. Stanley Hall, LL. D. — Pres. Clark University, Worcester, Mass. 

Felix Abler, Ph. D. — Professor of Social and Political Ethics, Columbia 
University, New York City, 

Earl Barnes, M.S., — Lecturer on Education, London, England. 

H. B. HuTCHiNS, LL.D. — Dean, Dept. of Law, University of Michigan, 
Ann Arbor, Mich. 

William M. Swingle, Ph.D. — Supt. Orange Public Schools, Orange, N. J. 

Elisha Dyer, Ph.D. — ex-Governor of Rhode Island, Providence, R. L 

Rev. Adolph Roeder, .... Orange, N. J. 

Rev. Robert S. MacArthur, D. D. . . . New York City 

Rev. Robert Collyer, D. D. . . . 

Rev. R. Heber Newton, D. D. . . 

Rt. Rev. Henry C. Potter, D. D. . . " 

DIOCESAN HOUSE, 

29 LAFAYETTE PLACE, 

NEW YORK. 



My dear Madam: 



June 15, i8gi. 



I know of your work from testimonies of those whose 
children have been your pupils, and am glad to express my confidence that 
for the delicate and difficult task you have undertaken you have peculiar 
and pre-eminent qualifications; and I am, dear madam, 

Sincerely yours, 

H. C. Potter. 
Mrs. E. M. Seguin. 

{Printed by pei-missioii. ) 



35 



